Neighborhood Legal Services Inc. (NLS), a nonprofit organization previously located on Clinton Street, recently moved office locations to 45 Main St. in Batavia.
NLS provides free legal services to low-income people and the disabled. They also provide a wide range of technical assistance and support services.
John Zonitch, the managing attorney at NLS, said the services remain the same, but they were looking to expand personnel.
“We have added an attorney that specializes in Social Security work, so we are able to handle more cases than we used to,” Zonitch said.
Zonitch said they enjoy their more centralized location.
“We’re definitely closer to the courts,” Zonitch said. “It’s convenient for the courts as well as for those with transportation difficulties. I think it’s a lot easier for them.”
Zonitch said the Community Action Center was also hoping to expand their Head Start preschool program.
NLS offers services in family law, disability law, housing, public benefits, consumer issues and New York State of Health Marketplace. They do not handle criminal cases, traffic tickets, money damage actions, estate work and real estate closings, torts, small claims court cases, workers’ compensation, unemployment and cases where fees are available for other counsel.
There are three offices throughout Western New York. One located in Buffalo, serving Erie County, one located in Niagara Falls, serving Niagara County, and the branch located in Batavia, serving Orleans, Genesee and Wyoming counties.
Residents can call or walk in to fill out an application. Some of the services are funded by grants, which have qualification requirements.
“Assuming their income and their assets meet our maximums, then they would be financially eligible,” Zonitch said. “Then as long as it’s a problem type that we handle, then we would certainly be very open to providing them with some service.”
Zonitch said their services concentrate primarily on divorces, evictions from the tenant’s standpoint and Social Security work. He said they also have healthcare navigators to assist people looking to get health insurance to navigate the online system.
“Our mission is to help low-income families have access to the court system that they might not otherwise be able to have,” Zonitch said.
